Jinji Davee, Aidan Le, Nicole Guth and Jack Dawson, clockwise from bottom, put up a poster as they get ready to make a presentation to their Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Miki Yee, Julian Macy, and Alex Baron, from left, answer questions after giving a presentation in their Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jaida Norman, left, looks to ask a question as classmate Tim McElroy listens during their Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Teacher Letitia Endow, center, helps Madi Yee, left, with an assignment during a Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Instructions written on the board for students during their Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Michael Yousef turns in a paper during a Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jack Dawson, right, answers a question as his teacher Letitia Endow, left, listens during a Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jaida Norman takes part in a presentation in front of her Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jinji Davee, Jack Dawson, Nicole Guth, Dillon Han, Naomi Cheng, and Aidan Le, from left, take part in a group discussion during their Mandarin language immersion social science class taught in Mandarin at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. Capistrano Unified School District has expanded its Chinese immersion language program to include Newhart Middle School. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

A student in the Mandarin immersion language program at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo takes notes in Mandarin during a social science class on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Jinji Davee, Aidan Le, Nicole Guth and Jack Dawson, clockwise from bottom, put up a poster as they get ready to make a presentation to their Mandarin language immersion social science class at Newhart Middle School in Mission Viejo on Tuesday, September 19, 2017. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Orange County Register/SCNG)

At first glance, this sixth-grade classroom at Newhart Middle School looks normal with its clustered desks, hand-drawn posters and teacher standing at the front of the classroom.

A closer look and listen, however, reveals something entirely different.

Newhart has become the first middle school in the Capistrano Unified School District to offer a Mandarin immersion program, in which students take two courses — one on the Mandarin language, another on social studies — taught entirely in the foreign language.

The 30-student program kicked off at Newhart in August with students who took years of Mandarin immersion at Marian Bergeson Elementary School in Laguna Niguel.

Inside the classroom, students converse, ask questions and respond to teacher Letitia Endow in Mandarin.

“I want Chinese to come to them like second nature,” Endow said.

The Mission Viejo instructor taught Mandarin as a foreign language for six years before coming to Newhart and teaching immersion for the first time.

The aim of the program, which will expand to Capistrano Valley High School once the middle-school students graduate, is to promote bilingualism, biliteracy and multiculturalism, according to the district.

“I wanted to do it for later on for job opportunities,” said Makeila Yee, a sixth-grader at Newhart who started the Mandarin immersion program in second grade. “I just thought it would be cool, plus I could tell my friends that I speak Chinese.”

Michael Yousef, who started learning Mandarin in first grade, said the Newhart program is different than what he’s used to.

“It’s a lot different in middle school than elementary because in elementary, the teachers can do Chinese whenever they want. In here they can only do two periods,” Yousef said.

Mission Viejo resident Jennifer Pang and her husband, who is of Chinese descent but not a Mandarin speaker, enrolled their son, William Pang, in the program at Marian Bergeson years ago in an attempt to supplement his education and give him more of a “global mindset.”

“It’s been amazing to see this program get off the ground in large part due to the parent support in the program,” Jennifer Pang said.

Pang has even opted to take Mandarin courses at Saddleback College to learn with her son.

“It is super, super hard,” she said. “He helps me with my homework.”

Teaching Mandarin to children in public schools in Orange County began a few years ago. In 2013, Marian Bergeson joined Fletcher Elementary in Orange to begin teaching kindergarten and first-grade students.

The aim of the original program at Marian Bergeson was to teach students in Mandarin about 80 percent of the time before evening it to 50 percent in fifth grade.

At the time, Fletcher’s principal Helen Chung-Lu outlined her goals for the students enrolled in the program.

“Our ultimate goal is for the students to pass the Chinese AP exam so that they could put it on their resume that they’re completely fluent in Mandarin,” she said in 2013. “It’s a tough language, but if you’re working with business partners from China, communication is really key.”

Newhart Middle School Principal Jeff Jones hopes students realize the language has many practical applications. “You’re using a totally different language to have academic conversations, which is the goal to get that true dual language,” Jones said. “You’ve got to be able to use it in everyday life.”

Jones also said he hopes students in the Mandarin immersion program continue enjoying learning the language after they graduate.

“You don’t ever want to make it where they stop enjoying that love of learning,” he said.

Pang, whose son is now a student at Newhart, said that though she doesn’t know whether her son will use the language in his future career, the immersion experience will have a positive impact.

“If he uses it, great,” she said. “If not, then I have no doubt it will help him in countless ways that don’t involve him writing in Mandarin.”

For more information about enrollment in the district’s Mandarin immersion program, visit Capistrano Unified’s website.

Shane Newell joined The Press-Enterprise in October 2017. He covers Canyon Lake, Corona, Lake Elsinore, Temecula, Murrieta and Wildomar. He was a community reporter covering Aliso Viejo and Laguna Niguel for the Orange County Register from September 2016 to September 2017. He graduated from Stanford University in 2016 with a master's degree in communication. He earned his bachelor's in journalism from Long Beach State in 2015. Among his favorite stories were his 2016 feature on Monday Morning Quarterback's Peter King and his life as one of the nation's most prolific NFL reporters and a 2017 look at the Riverside roots of Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes.